Eleh — Location Momentum

Sometimes with listening to new music (or listening to an artist who’s not necessarily “new”, but new to your ears), it’s best just to jump in and listen.  No looking for background on MySpace, last FM, or discogs, just play the cd and listen.

That seems the best decision on receiving Eleh’s  cd Location Momentum to review.  It’s not always easy to describe music; it has the ability to be so deep felt and personal to one person, and barely registers with another. 

With first impressions Location Momentum is drone that is subtly influenced by artists like LaMonte Young and Eliane Radigue.  It is highly minimal, yet within those minimal sounds lays a vast and expansive setting.  There are long swaths of repetitive sounds pulsing lightly; still it is not an annoying or grating sound. 

Eleh keeps things below a dull roar, low frequencies give a massive bass-like effect but without actually sounding like an instrument.  Strange? Yes, but let me try to explain.  Analog, digital and electro acoustic are all combined in various pitches, tones and frequencies.  A faint hum transitions into a throbbing pulse, static-like white noise flows into a high pitched frequency.   The results sound familiar but you just can’t pin point where.  It’s brilliant actually to be thrust into this world of sounds you can’t quite put your finger on.  The atmosphere that Eleh brings us to is just as complex as the music that is created.  Somewhat spiritual, a definite meditative and contemplative quality is found herein. It’s light yet murky with a warm touch but with a cold isolation.

The enigmatic, secretive Eleh has been constructing sounds since 1999, yet only releasing the works since 2006.  True to form the releases are just as vague (most are in limited edition) as the project itself.  In the end Location Momentum is a fine example of Eleh.